Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1887-06-03
A GENDARME'S STORY.

In the autumn of 49, we hound our
selves, at an elevation of 1900 meters, in
| the Chalet of TranbelaEe. 1t was well
that we were sheltered, for tempest
ragged on the outside, sweeping and howl
ing through the iaountain passes and
hurting itself with Jury upon the pines of
the Swiss Jura. GAthering about the
] fire, like the rest Of us, for warmth and
comfort, the herdsmen smoked and. lis
tened while we talked
Suddenly violent knocking sounded
upon the door. and. on the call To enter.
I gliyeI by the shepherd, VINO was master
of the hut, Il Vaudois gendarme wet and
weary, a black canishe following at his
heels, showed himself in the opening.
Placing his capote and carbine in cor
ner with the rest of the trappings, he ex-
planned to us that he, too, had been sur
| prised by the storm and for several hours
lost in the pines AS the light of the
burning logs fell upon the new arrival 1
started in establishment, for never in my
life before had l seen so strange counte-
| nance. The nose was broken and bent
awry, the teeth entirely missing from the
front of the mouth, and the skin and flesh
a patchwork of seams and cicatrices.
Nevertheless, in spite of it's disfigure-
ments, the face was a kind one, the face
of an old and brave soldier.
The conversation, checked for moment
by his coming, was renewed again, the
painful duty of the mountain guards, the
tragic story of contrabandists, forming
the basis of our talk. Every one had
something to relate, and when it came to
the turn of the gendarme, cheered by fire.
quent trips to his gourd and the grateful
warmth Of the fire, he gave us the follow
ing history:
THAT which am going to tell you, -
said he, ''is the saddest episode of my life,
for 1 was but % years of age, and with
out f1attering myself, well set boy.
Detailed to the post of Cure-the extreme
station of the canton of Vaud, near the
Fort des Rousses-in the winter of 19-, l
, endured some terrible sufferings, every
day of my life exposed to the danger and
hardships of that open frontier and the
forests of Amont. All, those miserable
smugglers, whose route l had to watch!
Many night have I passed in a hole in
the rocks or in the branches of the pines
| in those trackless woods where one only
I meets with crows and poisonous reptiles!
''But to return to my story: One after
noon the corporal came to me and said:
'Abram, this evening the little Francois
and his two dogs of brothers will load
themselves at Des Rousses; they will be
obliged to return through the hollows of
! Crouaz. I am going to post myself be-
hind them, the lieutenant under the Yer
millay, and you in the hollow itself As
I you have a longer route than we, you
must start at once and take Bijou with
| you. Come, hurry up, boy; this trip re-
quires nerve
''Bijou, to whom the corporal referred,
was the canishe of the post; there was
] nothing like him to scent the smugglers,
and moreover, to tell the truth, he had
once been contraband himself, having
served to pass jewelry and clock works,
concealed under his hair, through the
lines into France.
~ had found him after a brawl,
wounded and bleeding; had cared for and
cured him; and since then he had never
left me. By O'Clock I was on the road.
The ground was covered with snow, and
at every step l sank to my knees in spite
of my snow shoes. The carbine slune
across my shoulders, the sword at my
waist, my heavy capote and Alpenstock
did not render me light of weight, 1 as
sure you. But went on with a brave
heart in spite of my difficulties, pleased
with the thought of measuring my
| strength in open fight with this terrible
Petit Francois, who daily defed ou1
watchfulness, and on Sunday openly
walked with the girls of the neighbor.
hood. He did it to make us envious, for
the villain knew that we were not made
of stone, and with an income of only
thirty cents day from the government
not likely to be looked upon with favor
"When think of him, that scamp with
his pockets full of gold, and jewels enough
to tempt even the virgin of Notre Dame
d'Arzler, my blood boils, and-but listen
gentlemen, listen to the end.
81 had already been travelling for ovel
two hours, when at last / approached the
hollow of Crouaz, narrow defiIe between
the Noir Mont and Mont Sallez, mere
goats path, in fact; to the right of it
fearful precipice, to the left polished
wall-and what q height-not less thar
1000 metres!
'Imagine for yourselves the cold ant
the gloom of those interminable forests
with their centenary pines, whose trunks
were messed with age, whose branches
bent and cracked under the weight O.
snow-and not soul save myself in the
whole of that icy solitude l walked perhaps
100 feet into the defile, then seated mysel
in the snow to smoke. The night was
clear and bright but smoked with com
posure, for 1 knew perfectly well that the
smugglers would remain at Des Rouse.
until 10 o'clock at least, in order to arrive
at Begnins about daybreak.
"By this time, the cold beginning t.
affect me, was growing very drowsy
when suddenly my attention was attracted
by the strange behavior of Bijou. He hat
burrowed into pile of snow heapet
against the wall of the hollow, and in
stead of squatting himself quietly on hi
launches, as was his habit, was digging
scratching and shifting about the excava
ton as if seeking to unearth treasure.
" 4 must see what he is about I said
to myself; there's something suspicion.
over there And leaning my carbin,
against the rocks, took off my sword an(
began to dig in the hole at which Bijo1
was still paving. All, but it was funny
for suddenly, something giving way be
meath us, we fell and were buried out O
sight, great pile of snow and ice resting
upon our heads. When I was free agar
found myself in a sort of cavern, tn,
floor dry and covered with gravel and fin,
sand Bijou, already on his feet, jumped
about me barking and whining, displeaset
OF uneasy at the position in which HI
found himself, it was difficult to tell which
SPY the light of my lantern, fortu
nately unbroken in the all, began to ex
anime the surroundings: but. sacre Dieu
wnaJ uld 1 see stacked upon every size o
me? Packages of wheat and sugars, bale
of tobacco, wine from Berna. cigars from
Vevey, and heaven knows what besides
1t was complete store house, in fact, ant
evidently den of Petit Francois in which
to hide away the contraband merchandise
brought into France. In all there was
perhaps, 1900 francs worth, and as tn
state gave us the right to one-half tn
coniscated property you can imagine m,
state of mind. had scarcely time, how
ever to recover from the amazemen
which the sight of these things ha,
|. given me when my duty as sentinel re
turned to mind; but how was to get GU
of this hole, thirty feet at least beneatl
the surface of the ground, and the wall
as smooth as glass? 1t was impossible t.